Hi everyone, I'm developing a MR Vision Pro app where I’d like to anchor virtual objects (such as UI elements) around the user's arm. However, I’ve noticed that Vision Pro seems to mask out the area where the user’s real arm is, hiding virtual content in that region so that you see your real arm.
Is there a way to render virtual elements on the user's arm—so that it looks like the object is placed directly on the arm despite the real-world passthrough? I was hoping there might be a way to adjust the depth or behavior of this masked-out region. Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)
Discuss spatial computing on Apple platforms and how to design and build an entirely new universe of apps and games for Apple Vision Pro.
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I've encountered an unexpected crash with RoomPlan on iOS 16 devices. The odd part is the code is protected by an available check, since I'm using newer RoomPlan features.
Xcode error
dyld[40588]: Symbol not found: _$s8RoomPlan08CapturedA0V16USDExportOptionsV5modelAEvgZ
I can repro using the Apple sample code.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/roomplan/create-a-3d-model-of-an-interior-room-by-guiding-the-user-through-an-ar-experience
Modify RoomCaptureViewController.swift as follows.
Remove
try finalResults?.export(to: destinationURL, exportOptions: .parametric)
Add
if #available(iOS 17.0, *) {
try finalResults?.export(to: destinationURL, exportOptions: .model)
} else {
try finalResults?.export(to: destinationURL, exportOptions: .parametric)
}
I would have expected this code to at least compile and run on older devices.
When the app was targeting iOS 15, the available checks worked as expected and the app is able to launch properly.
Hi there,
I was looking to add a particle emitter to my augmented reality app I'm developing using RealityKit. I'm targeting iOS. I noticed in the documentation for the ParticleEmitterComponent that it looks like iOS 18.0+ is supported, but when I try to use the ParticleEmitterComponent in my code in XCode, I get an error that it isn't found. Furthermore, this StackOverflow post seems to indicate that particle systems are not available for iOS. Would it be possible to get clarification on this?
I would like to integrate the object capture API with a ML model for analysis. So, i will need to get the current frame into CG images for further process.
Thanks in advance !
Hi there
I'm using Reality Composer Pro to anchor virtual content to a .referenceobject. However moving the referenceobject quickly causes tracking to stop. (I know this is a limitation and I am trying to embrace it as a feature)
Is there a way to play a USDZ animation at the last known location, after detecting that the reference object is no longer tracked? is it possible to set this up in Reality Composer pro?
I'm trying to get the USDZ to play before the Virtual Content disappears (due to reference object not being located). So that it smooths out the vanishing of the content.
Nearly everything is set up in Reality Composer pro with my immersive.scene just adding virtual content to the reference object which anchors it in the RCP Scene, so my immersive view just does this -
if let immersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "Immersive", in: realityKitContentBundle) {
content.add(immersiveContentEntity)
& this
.onAppear {
appModel.immersiveSpaceState = .open
}
.onDisappear {
appModel.immersiveSpaceState = .closed
}
I have tried Using SpatialTracking & WorldTrackingProvider, but I'm still quite new to Swift and coding in general so im unsure how to implement in conjunction with my RCP scene and/or if this is the right way to go about it.
Also I have implemented this at the beginning of object tracking.
All I had to do was add a onAppear behavior to the object to play a USDZ and that works.
Doing it for disappearing (due to loss of reference object) seems to be a lot harder.
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
Reality Composer Pro
Tags:
ARKit
AR / VR
RealityKit
Reality Composer Pro
I noticed that when I drag the menu window in an Immersive View, the entities behind it becomes semi-transparent, and the boundary between virtual and real-world objects is very pronounced.
May I ask how does VisionOS implement this effect? Is there any API or technique I can use in my own code to enable the same semi-transparent overlay - even when I am not dragging the menu window?
Is it possible to detect distance from the vision pro to real live objects and people? I tried using scene.raycast to perform a raycast forward from the center of the viewport, but it doesn't seem to react to real life objects, only entities.
I see mentioned here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/776807?answerId=829576022#829576022, that a raycast with scene reconstruction should allow me to measure that distance, as long as the object is non-moving. How could I accomplish that?
Hi all,
I'm currently developing a real-time object reconstruction app using ARKit. The goal is to scan large objects using ARKit’s depth and transform data, and generate a point cloud.
However, I’m facing a major challenge - Transform Drift / World Alignment Issues
The localToWorld transform provided by ARKit frequently seems to drift or become unstable across frames.
This results in misaligned point clouds even when the device is moved slowly or kept relatively still.
In some cases, a static surface scanned over a few seconds results in clearly misaligned fragments.
This makes it difficult to accurately stitch a multi-frame point cloud. I have experimented with various lighting conditions and object textures, but the issue persists in all cases. At times, the relative error between frames reaches up to 20 cm, while in other instances the error is minimal; however, the drift gradually accumulates over time, leading to an overall enlargement of the reconstructed object. I have attached images of both cases here.
Questions:
Are there specific conditions under which ARKit’s world transform is expected to drift?
Is there a way to detect or recover from this drift during runtime?
Any best practices for maintaining consistent tracking during scanning or measurement sessions?
Hi, I am trying to update what entities are visible in my RealityView. After the SwiftData set is updated, I have to restart the app for it to appear in the RealityView.
Also, the RealityView does not close when I move to a different tab. It keeps everything on and tracking, leaving the model in the same location I left it.
import SwiftUI
import RealityKit
import MountainLake
import SwiftData
struct RealityLakeView: View {
@Environment(\.modelContext) private var context
@Query private var items: [Item]
var body: some View {
RealityView { content in
print("View Loaded")
let lakeScene = try? await Entity(named: "Lake", in: mountainLakeBundle)
let anchor = AnchorEntity(.plane(.horizontal, classification: .any, minimumBounds: SIMD2<Float>(0.2, 0.2)))
@MainActor func addEntity(name: String) {
if let lakeEntity = lakeScene?.findEntity(named: name) {
// Add the Cube_1 entity to the RealityView
anchor.addChild(lakeEntity)
} else {
print(name + "entity not found in the Lake scene.")
}
}
addEntity(name: "Island")
for item in items {
if(item.enabled) {
addEntity(name: item.value)
}
}
// Add the horizontal plane anchor to the scene
content.add(anchor)
content.camera = .spatialTracking
} placeholder: {
ProgressView()
}
.edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all)
}
}
#Preview {
RealityLakeView()
}
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Swift Packages
RealityKit
Reality Composer Pro
SwiftData
I need to loop my videoMaterial and I don't know how to make it happen in my code.
I have included an image of my videoMaterial code.
Any help making this happen with be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Christopher
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
ARKit
When I show a window while a sky sphere is shown, the handles to drag/close/resize the window are hidden. The colliders still work, so they are there, but only the visuals are hidden. I already know from another project, that this also happens to volumes.
They only appear once you get closer to the window or if the sky sphere gets removed.
Is this a known issue or is there a fix for that?
.persistentSystemOverlays(.visible)does not fix it
Xcode 16.3.0 Beta, visionOS 2.4
is it possible to dynamically update ModelPositionOffset of GeometryModifier with a depth map image?
in my code I set up the parameter for "DepthMapTexture" universal input node
and tried setting the depth map for depthTextureResource. I have 2 DrawableQueues. One for setting InputTexture, and one for setting DepthMapTexture. This only shows the part that concerns setting DepthMapTexture
this is where I define the plane entity.
and this is the shader graph
what I noticed with GeometryModifier is that, the depthMap image has to be same as input image's dimensions.
and when I applied this material to usdz file, with pre-assigned image and depth map from RCP, and loaded that Entity from code, depth map was applied correctly.
what I am unsure is that if it is impossible to define a model entity from code, apply ShaderGraphMaterial from RCP, and dynamically update the image used in GeometryModifier.
Maybe I'm missing something when defining Entity, something that allows geometric modifications?
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
Reality Composer Pro
Tags:
RealityKit
Reality Composer Pro
Shader Graph Editor
I am experience problem with three iPhone 13 Pro.
They are reporting the lowest quality for all points in the depthmap from the Lidar sensor.
The readings I get are unusable.
If it was just one phone I would consider it a faulty sensor, but in this case it is three phones that gives the same result.
I have other iPhone 13 Pro that works as expected.
Have any else experienced a similar behavior?
I am using iOS 18.4.1
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avdepthdata/depthdataquality
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
ARKit
First, I scan first room using the roomplan api. Because I need scan second room, I stop it by “captureSession.stop(pauseARSession: false)”, I think the Arsession is continue work at that time.
Second, before the another room will scan, I want to run another ARView. (in order to detect some objects which are not detected by Roomplan in first room)
But, at this time, the second ARView(there is an ARView in roomplan, I think) will always black screen, can’t normally work. This is the question I want to resolve. Please help me let the second ARView go well.
Recently, questions about ARKit/visionOS seem to be being asked in the Apple forum by internal Apple engineers. Inexperienced and untested makeshift features are being offered, putting average but experienced developers in a difficult position. They are unable to react and get something useful from the posts. Apple needs to review the situation.
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
ARKit
I want to select a sub model under a large model in a mixed space, and when I select this sub model, I will add a stroke to it, similar to the effect of selecting a model in Reality Composer Pro ,How to create entity strokes similar to this effect
Hi,
after upgrading to 2.4.1 (from 1.0) my vision stucks on "Retrieving configuration" screen. Apple Store didn't support my case since it has been sold in USA and the product isn't still present in italian market. I don't have dev strap, how can I manage the issue?
Thank you
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
General
Hi, I'm trying to place an object in front of AVPlayer that is docked in VideoDockingRegion, but when launched in immersive space, the video passes through the objects placed in front of. How do I make sure these objects are visible?
image for reference
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
Reality Composer Pro
Tags:
ARKit
RealityKit
Reality Composer Pro
Shader Graph Editor
At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for visionOS.
I saw that there is a new way to add SwiftUI View attachments in my RealityView, what advantages does this have over the old way?
Attachments can now be added directly to your entities with ViewAttachmentComponent. The removes the need to declare your attachments upfront in your RealityView initializer and then add those attachments as child entities. The new approach provides greater flexibility. Canyon Crosser and Petite Asteroids both utilize the new approach.
ManipulationComponent looks really cool! Right now my app has a series of complicated custom gestures. What gestures does it handle for me exactly, and are there any situations where I should prefer my own custom gestures?
ManipulationComponent provides natural interaction with virtual objects. It seamlessly handles translation and rotation. You can easily add manipulation to a SwiftUI view like Model3D with the manipulable view modifier.
The new Object Manipulation API is great for most apps, and is a breeze to implement, but sometimes you might want a more custom feel, and that’s ok! Custom gestures are still fully supported for that scenario.
I saw that there is a new API to also access the right main camera. What can I do with this?
Correct, in visionOS 26, you can access the left and right main cameras. You can even access them simultaneously as a stereo pair. Camera access still requires a managed entitlement and an enterprise license, see Accessing the main camera for more details about those requirements.
More computer vision and machine learning use-cases are unlocked with access to both cameras, we are excited to see what you will do!
What do I need to do to add spatial accessory input for my app?
First, use the GameController framework to establish a connection with the spatial accessory, and then listen for events from the controller. Then, you can use either RealityKit, ARKit, or a combination of both to track the accessory, anchor virtual content to it, and fine tune the accessory interaction with the content in your app.
For more details, check out Discovering and tracking spatial game controllers and styli.
By far, the most difficulty with implementing visionOS apps is SwiftUI window management…placing, opening, closing, etc. Are there any improvements to window management in visionOS 26?
Yes! We recommend watching Set the scene with SwiftUI in visionOS.
You can use the defaultLaunchBehavior to choose whether a particular window is presented (or suppressed) at launch. You can also prevent a window like a secondary toolbar from launching as the initial window using .restorationBehavior(.disabled). Adopting best practices for persistent UI provides a great overview of SwiftUI window management on visionOS.
As for placing windows, there is still no API for an app to specify the placement of its windows other than relative placement. If that is a feature you are interested in, please file an enhancement request for it using Feedback Assistant!
How to get access to the Enterprise API?
First, request the entitlement and license through your Apple Developer or enterprise account. Once these have been granted, include the license and entitlement in your project. Then you can build, test, and distribute as an in-house app.
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
General
hi, I'm trying to create a virtual movie theater, but after running computeDiffuseReflectionUVs.py and applying attenuation map, I noticed the light falloff effect just covers over the objects. I used apple provided attenuation map (did not specify the attenuation map name on python script) with sample size of 6000. I thought the python script would calculate vertices and create shadow for, say, back of the chairs. Am I understanding this wrong?